Cryptocurrency is hot in 2019, a market that offers huge profit making possibilities. But it’s also extremely risky so before you dig in it’s better to be informed. Here are a few advices if you want to buy cryptocurrency online in 2019. To start investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies you first need to with an exchange which will offer you to buy cryptocurrency with paper money. An exchange is basically an website that enables everyone to purchase and sell Bitcoin as well as any other cryptocurrency that they have traded.
Signing up for a Coinbase account is easy, though you will need to provide some form of identification. That may involve sending a copy of your photo ID and potentially also sending a live image of your face using a webcam. These rules are important to follow as they allow the site(s) to comply with ‘know-your-customer’ regulations. Although Coinbase alone will allow you to buy and sell Bitcoin, it’s also worth signing up to its linked exchange platform, Coinbase Pro, which will give you greater control over your purchases.
The prices of most altcoins depend on the current market price of Bitcoin. It is vital to understand that Bitcoin is relative to fiat currencies and is quite volatile. The simpler version of this is that when the value of Bitcoin goes up, the value of altcoins goes down and vice versa. The market is normally foggy when the Bitcoin price is volatile and, as you would imagine, this prevents most traders from gaining a clear understanding of what goes on in the market. At this point, it is advisable to either have close targets for our trades or simply not trade at all.
Don’t chase cheap coins with dreams of lambos and private jets. Lots of uneducated investors in the crypto space buy low priced cryptocurrencies because they think there is a higher chance of big returns. If presented with one coin priced at $0.01 and another at $75, they blindly purchase the $0.01 coin because they think it’s easier for a coin to go from $0.01 to $0.02, rather than from $75 to $150. This is a common trap. There are lots of factors that affect a coin’s price, including two important ones: the circulating supply and the real world value of the coin.
Dad advice: Aim to buy low, sell high; try not to buy high, sell low. Look at the price trend, if we are at the highest point it has been in the past 24 hours (days, weeks, etc), that is inherently riskier than buying at a short term low. It can make sense to buy as the price starts to break out (to “buy into strength”), but buying after a breakout at a new high while filled with excitement is a little “irrationally exuberant.” This is to say, aim to “buy the dips” and often “the best time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets… even if it is your own.” Conversely, the worst time to buy is often (but not always) right after the price has shot up and everyone is manic. If you do buy high, and it ends up dropping shortly after, consider HODLing (to “HODL” is to Hold On for Dear Life as the price goes down).
Technically speaking, cryptocurrencies are transactions or entries targeted in a restricted database. Specific conditions must be met to modify these transactions. Created with cryptography, transactions are protected with mathematics, not with people. Transactions are published in a database, but it is a special type of database that is shared is a peer-to-peer network. Read more info on Buying Crypto.